The Ultimate Formula 1 Betting Guide (2020 Update)

Racing is a world-wide sport, but nothing can quite compete with F1, or the thrill of Formula 1 betting.

Originating in the UK, this sport has taken the world by storm and become the absolute pinnacle of motor racing. From Hamilton to Schumacher, and from Vettel to Fangio, racing does not get any better than this!

Formula 1 Betting Tips & Odds For The 2020 Season

All throughout the long winter, fans of Formula 1 have been gearing up towards the new season, eagerly following every scrap of news and rumour that can be dug up amidst the overwhelming amount of football-transfers and Premier League results dominating both the media and the internet. Finally, the F1 season is truly approaching. The driver lineups are set, the teams are confirmed, the cars are being revealed as we speak and Melbourne is on the horizon.

Melbourne is where it all starts. 20 drivers, 10 teams, all with a blank slate, hoping to at least copy last season. But for the drivers, the F1 season, in reality, kicks off much earlier and on a completely different continent.

In truth, the F1 season starts as early as the 19th of February in Barcelona with the very first test. This is where we for the first time have a proper chance to see the cars for the new season in action and it’s the first time that the drivers have a chance to get a feel of what they’re working with.

For Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and the rest of the Mercedes team, it’s a case of wanting more of the same. 2019 was near perfect for the German team as Hamilton clinched his 6th world title, while team mate Bottas finished second, miles ahead of Red Bull’s Verstappen.

For the legendary Ferrari team on the other hand, 2020 is a year where significant improvement is not only wanted, but indeed needed. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel might be a recognisable name and face, but he struggled last season, as did the Ferrari team as a whole. Sure, 22-year-old Charles Leclerc should rightfully be proud of his 4th place finish in 2019, but the Italians are never satisfied unless they stand at the very top of the podium come the end of the season.

But is one year enough for a driver like Leclerc to fully mature? Yes, we do expect him to improve on his rookie season with Ferrari and he could be able to push Verstappen away from the third place, but, as things stand, challenging Hamilton looks like a really daunting task.

In fact, the only real challenge to Hamilton’s domination has long looked to be his teammate, Valtteri Bottas. Bottas was, at times, the only driver who looked like he could really beat Hamilton, although he was clearly second best in the long run. This might not be welcome reading for fans of Ferrari, Mclaren or Red Bull, but it is ideal for Mercedes.

The Germans were never really in trouble during 2019. It was always clear that they would win the constructor’s championship as it became equally clear pretty early on that they had the best cars and the most dominating drivers.

So, what has changed for 2020? The answer is “not much”, at least not in terms of drivers, but that might not be so bad for those hoping that someone can finally challenge Mercedes and Hamilton. Hamilton is now 35 and should be past his peak, whilst Charles Leclerc is 22 and has one more solid season under his belt. Max Verstappen is also entering his prime and should be set for a proper push towards the very top.

2019 was Mercedes’ year without a doubt, but there are good reasons to think that 2020 will be more competitive. Both Red Bull and Ferrari are going with the tried and tested this year, hoping that stability and time will prove enough to dislodge Mercedes from the top. Even British team McLaren finally have reasons to be optimistic.

McLaren was long seen as one of the best teams in F1, but then years of trouble hit. Not even Fernando Alonso could help them. 2019 proved a turning point however as the unlikely duo of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz did the unthinkable and outclassed everyone – including Daniel Ricciardo and Renault – to be crowned “best of the rest”.

Britain’s beloved racing team have the money and the expertise to make a real go of it in 2020, and one could now also make the argument that they finally have the right drivers to take that extra step and really challenge the big dogs.

Popular Formula 1 Betting Race Markets

Betting one’s money on the driver’s champion and the constructor’s champion is all very exciting and interesting, but what do you do if one team dominates the whole season? A bet on the best driver and the richest constructor to win it all leaves you with a good chance of taking home some winnings, but it also leaves you risking an excitement-free summer and final part of the F1 season. Luckily, there are plenty of other markets for us punters to have fun with.

Race-winner Formula 1 Betting

One particularly interesting market to check out for punters is the race-winner market. Sure, the perceived best driver will be the favourite for the vast majority of the races he is competing in, but no one can win every single F1 race, even the most dominant drivers will take home less than 50% of the races, and that is if they’re having an unbelievable season.

Fastest Lap Formula 1 Betting

Another interesting market for race-weekend is the fastest lap betting. Unlike the race winner, this market requires a slightly different approach and research on behalf of the punter. It is, of course, true that race winners often have one of the fastest lap times, but it is also important to keep in mind that F1 now rewards the fastest lap time with one point that counts towards both the driver’s and the constructor’s championship.

This means that drivers like Max Verstappen (a man who is known for being particularly fast and reckless) suddenly have an incentive to go exceptionally fast for the last 5 laps, even if the race win is out of the question.

Safety Car Appearance Formula 1 Betting

This fast and at times reckless driving is exciting to watch and can lead to points, but it can also – more often than not – lead to a safety car. When a driver is swooshing through the corners in Monaco, desperately neglecting his own and other’s safety in order to shave off a few seconds, you don’t need a whole lot of contact for mayhem to ensue and the safety car to come out.

Other Interesting Betting Markets

In addition to the abovementioned Fastest lap betting and Safety car betting, there are a whole list of other interesting markets for punters to check out with their favourite bookmaker. One particularly fascinating market could potentially be the Both Team Cars Points Finish.

Previously, Mercedes have kicked off the year by taking 1st and 2nd spot in Melbourne and they tend to continue the trend after such a good start. In fact, Mercedes won 1st and 2nd in the first five races back in 2019, it was not until Monaco that Bottas and Hamilton got split up, and then they finished in 3rd and 1st respectively.

Betting on a Mercedes car to finish in the points is hopeless, the payoff is simply not worth it, but betting on both cars to be in the top 10 will at least give you some return on your bet. It is also more than likely to happen almost every single time.

Other markets for punters include:

Podium finish

Top 6 finish

Points finish

Race winning margin

Individual driver to be classified

Nationality of the winner

Number of classified winners

Grid position of the winner

First constructor retirement

News And Info For The Formula 1 2020 Season

2019 was a breath of fresh air for Formula 1. Rarely have we seen so many driver changes during an off-season. Before the season started, we really had no idea what to expect as no one had seen Verstappen head up Red Bull as the clear number one driver before, no one knew what to expect from George Russel, Alexander Albon and Lando Norris, and it was unclear whether or not Charles Leclerc was really ready for the pressures of driving for Ferrari.

Now we are one year removed, and the driver lineups have finally solidified. We now know that Lando Norris might be the answer for Mclaren who are finally looking in decent shape. We also know that both Russel and Albon are the real deal.

In fact, the lineups for 2019 proved to be so solid, that we see very little changes at all for the 2020 season. Here is a comprehensive list of the lineups for this season:

Team

Drivers

Changes

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas

None

Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc

None

Red Bull

Alexander Albon and Max Verstappen

None (although Albon replaced Gasly half-way through the 2019 season)

Mclaren

Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz

None

Renault

Danie Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon

Ocon replacing Nico Hulkenberg

Torro Rosso

Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat

Gasly swapped with Albon half-way through 2019

Racing Point

Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll

None

Alfa Romeo

Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi

None

Haas

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen

None

Williams

George Russell and Nicholas Latifi

Latifi replacing Robert Kubica

The Favourites

The favourites for the 2020 season are undoubtedly Hamilton and Mercedes, but they are finally being given some proper challenges in form of the Verstappen-lead Red Bull, as well as Ferrari in form of Vettel and Leclerc.

The only problem is that Red Bull and Ferrari have to beat two of the best drivers in the world, who also just happens to be seated in the two best cars in the world. Yes, Mercedes have a lot of money, they also have the privilege of getting to work on making an absolute monster of a car even better. Vettel struggled in 2019 and it will be very interesting to see whether or not the aging German is capable of keeping up with Leclerc over a whole season. Never count Vettel out though, this is a season where he really needs to prove that he still belongs, and Vettel is always best under pressure.

Bottom Dwellers

Being at the top of the podium is what every F1 team dreams about, but sadly, having a top means that one

must also have a bottom. Someone has to finish last, and in 2019, there was never any real doubt as to who was the worst team in F1.

One cannot help but feel sorry for Claire Williams. Her father led Britain’s most beloved racing team to several championships and memorable moments, but so far, Claire has not managed to repeat these feats. Not that she really can be blamed too much for this, if even at all. Unfortunately, the share of the financial pie is very uneven in F1, meaning that finishing last one season might land you in a spot of bother for many years to come.

Williams are really in a horrible place right now, but they hope that the only newcomer to F1 this season – Nicholas Latifi – can prove to be a whole lot better than Robert Kubica, the man he is replacing. Kubica is nearing 40 and way past his due date, but we doubt this will be enough for Williams who are undoubtedly staring yet another tough season in the face.

Formula 1 Season Structure

The F1 season consists of 22 races, each of which is being contested by 20 drivers. These 20 drivers represent the 10 teams, meaning there are two drivers for each team. This might sound as if each driver has one less rival to deal with, but the truth is that no rival is bigger than the one representing the same team as you.

This might sound odd, but think about it: there are only two seats with each team, so the worst thing you can do, is being outperformed by your direct competition. Being on the same team is by no means a guarantee of sportsmanship and comradery.

The main goal of the F1 season as a driver, is to finish with the most amount of points, but how exactly does this point allocation work?

How Are Points Awarded in F1

Scoring in F1 might seem complicated at first, but the truth is that it’s pretty easy and straightforward. Out of the 20 starting drivers, the top 10 will earn points. Number 10 gets 1 point, 9 gets 2, 8 gets 4, 7 gets 6, 6 gets 8, 5 gets 10, 4 gets 12, 3rd gets 15, 2nd gets 18, and finally, 1st place earns you a total of 25 points. At the end of the season, the points are tallied and the driver with the most amount of points wins the trophy. The team with the most points takes home the Constructors Championship.

What is DRS And How Does it Work?

There are surprisingly few difficult terms and rules one has to understand when watching Formula 1. For the most part, it is 20 cars racing, with one car finishing as the winner and the next 9 finishing in the points. It’s remarkably simple and entertaining, but there is one exception to the rule: DRS.

DRS stands for Drag Reduction System, and you should absolutely be aware of what this means before watching F1.

Each car has an adjustable rear wing which is normally closed. In certain situations, this can be open, allowing for air to flow through, thus reducing the drag on the car. This is ideal for overtaking as it gives your car more speed, but it can only be used in the following scenario:

The driver has to be chasing a car and be no more than 1 second behind him, and the two cars have to find themselves in a DRS Zone. Only the chasing driver can engage his DRS.

A DRS zone is a long straight already chosen by the stewards to be a DRS zone. There are typically somewhere between 1 and 3 DRS zones in every race.

Why Are There So Many Types of Tyres?

There are in total 7 tyre compounds available to every team during the racing season. Five of these compounds are for dry weather and they are marked C1 – C5, with C1 being the hardest and C5 being the softest. The remaining two compounds are for wet-weather driving. One has a green stripe indicating it is the Intermediate tyre, and the other one has a blue stripe, indicating that this is the Full Wet tyre.

In a normal, dry-weather race, Pirelli will choose three dry types to be used during the race. Every driver has to use two of the three selected tyres during the race.

A Typical Grand Prix Weekend

Many think of Formula 1 as simply being a race that lasts a couple of hours at the most. This is true, yet also remarkably false at the same time. Yes, the actual race usually takes somewhere between 1 and 2 hours, but in F1, we always talk about the Race Weekend. The race weekend starts on Friday, and it starts with the very first practice.

Practice

In most sports, no one except the players and coaches pay attention to the practice. Practice is something players do every single day behind closed doors, it’s not of interest to the public. F1 is a bit different.

Seeing as no one, not even a professional F1 driver, can get everyday practice in an actual F1 car, every time they lower themselves down into the car becomes a spectacle. The Friday (Thursday in the case of the Monaco Grand Prix) is free practice day and it consists of two practice sessions lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes each. There are no points or positions to fight for, this is simply an opportunity for the drivers to get familiar with the track and the changes made to the car. The final practice takes place on Saturday morning.

Qualifying

After the morning-practice, it is time for qualification. This is the first competitive step of the weekend and it always draws a crowd seeing as how results during Saturday’s qualification will determine the starting grid for the race on Sunday.

F1 Qualification takes place in three stages and follows a classic knockout system. The first stage contains all 20 drivers and lasts for 18 minutes. As soon as the time is up, the 5 slowest drivers are eliminated from qualifying. These drivers will fill starting positions 20-16 in the race with the slowest driver starting last.

A short break follows before stage two starts. Stage two lasts for 15 minutes and, as soon as the 15 minutes are up, the 5 slowest drivers will be eliminated, filling up starting positions 15-11.

This leads us to stage 3. Stage 3 is the high-point of the Saturday as it sees the fastest drivers compete to start at pole position. If you make it to Q3, you are guaranteed to start “in the points”(meaning that you will start the race no lower than in 10th position). Q3 only lasts for 12 minutes, meaning the drivers have to be on their game in order to rack up the fastest lap-time.

The race

Finally, we have the race. The race itself always takes place on the Sunday, and the drivers start in the positions determined by the qualification the day before. All 20 drivers start in the same grid, meaning that even if you start in pole position, a good start is essential. Starting first gives you an advantage as escaping a potential accident with other cars is easier, but stalling or encountering issues can be race-ending, even for the car starting first.

An F1 race is 305 kilometres long, the only exception being Monaco, which is 260 kilometres. This means that every race has to have as few laps as possible, so long as the 305 kilometres are covered. Every race track is slightly different in length, meaning that the amount of laps will differ from race to race, but the length of the race will be the same. Silverstone has 52 laps, Monza has 53, and Singapore has 61 laps.

Formula 1 Schedule

Country

Circuit

Date

Australia

Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

12 – 15 March

Bahrain

Bahrain International Circuit

20 – 22 March

Vietnam

Hanoi Circuit

03 – 05 April

China

Shanghai International Circuit

17 – 19 April

Netherlands

Circuit Zandvoort

01 – 03 May

Spain

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

08 – 10 May

Monaco

Circuit de Monaco

21 – 24 May

Azerbaijan

Baku City Circuit

05 – 07 June

Canada

Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

12 – 14 June

France

Circuit Paul Ricard

26 – 28 June

Austria

Red Bull Ring

03 – 05 July

Great Britain

Silverstone

17 – 19 July

Hungary

Hungaroring

31. July – 02. August

Belgium

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

28 – 30 August

Italy

Autodromo Nazionale Monza

04 – 06 September

Singapore

Marina Bay Street Circuit

18 – 20 September

Russia

Sochi Autodrom

25 – 27 September

Japan

Suzuka International Racing Course

09 – 11 October

USA

Circuit of the Americas

23 – 25 October

Mexico

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

30 October – 01 November

Brazil

Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace

13 – 15 November

Abu Dhabi

Yas Marina Circuit

27 – 29 November

The History of F1

The history of Formula 1 dates all the way back to 1950. In fact, thanks in no small part to Bernie Ecclestone, the very first official F1 event was held at Silverstone on 13th of May 1950. Italian driver Giuseppe Farina collected the most amount of points over the 6 competitive races held that season, but the decade would come to be dominated by a different name entirely.

The Beginning

F1 is often considered an English endeavour, at least for those who don’t see it as an entirely Italian thing. Yes, Ferrari has dominated for years and the amount of world-class Italian drivers is nothing short of staggering, and one cannot doubt the impact Bernie Eccleston, Frank Williams, Jack Brabham, and the entire McLaren team has had on the history of F1.

It might then come as a small shock to discover that the first real superstar of F1 racing was indeed Argentinian. Because whilst Farina hoisted the very first F1 driver’s title, it was Juan Manuel Fangio in a strange combination of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes who would go on to dominate the 1950’s, winning the driver’s title on no less than 5 occasions between 1950 and 1960.

Between 1960 and 1980, Formula 1 had many big-name champions and the title changed hands regularly. The one red-thread however, was the relative British domination. Gone was the years of Fangio and the time was nigh for racing greats such as Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham and Niki Lauda.

Glory Days

Nelson Piquet emerged early in the 1980s as one of the best in the business, but it was eventually Alain Prost who would steal all the headlines. The Frenchman dominated for years in his McLaren and in truth, he looked unbeatable. He lifted the driver’s title in both ’85 and ’86, and his streak looked set to continue after a one-year interruption caused by Piquet. Then the world learned to pronounce the name Ayrton Senna.

Senna v Prost

The dual between Senna and Prost was out of this world. In fact, no F1 fan can as much as think about these two legends without getting a little misty-eyed and, in all honesty, quite a lot more than just a wee bit sad and melancholic.

It started amazingly. Prost was the undisputed king, only being outdone very occasionally by the aging Nelson Piquet before Senna emerged seemingly out of nowhere to win the title three times in four years between 1988 and 1991. An intense rivalry developed between Senna and Prost who even had to deal with the horrible reality of being teammates at one stage. These guys hated each other and would do anything to win. Sabotage, drama and an extreme will to beat the other man was the order of the day.

Then Imola 1994 happened. Senna’s car was going fine down the straight in San Marino the first second, then suddenly, before anyone could blink, the Brazilian’s car was upside down, smashed into the railings. The most intense genius to ever lower himself into an F1 car was gone at the tragically young of 34 and the Brazilian stripes on the helmet, a feature Senna remains iconic for to this very day, would never be seen again.

Schumi

1994 was an unbelievably sad moment in sports history. Senna was one of kind. Surely, his like would never be seen again. Prost would retire, Nelson Piquet had already done so, and many people thought that racing was dead. Sure, a young guy named Michael Schumacher somehow won the title in his magnificently coloured Benetton, but no one really cared about that in 1994.

Then he did it again in 1995. In a Benetton. ’96 and ’97 saw wins for Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve (both in Williams), whilst Mika Hakkinen dominated the end of the century and took home two driver’s championships in a row in ’98 and ’99. Then came the turn of the century and with it, the dawn of the true king of F1, the man known simply as Schumi.

The Rain Master was out of this world. He dominated completely and wrote himself into history by capturing an unbelievable and unprecedented 5 driver’s championships in a row, taking his total up to 7, a number that stands as a record even to this day.

The Hamilton Era

But it might not stand for much longer. After Schumacher aged and left Ferrari, it was Fernando Alonso’s turn. He won 2 titles in a row for McLaren, but that is where it stopped. Alonso and Raikkonen were both good, but the 2010s would be dominated by a rivalry almost equalling that of Prost and Senna.

Lewis Hamilton kicked it all off by winning his first championship at the young age of 23, then a new record. Two years later, Sebastian Vettel would equal Hamilton by also taking home his first championship at the age of 23 and he would go on to dominate the sport, taking home the next four driver’s championships.

Then Lewis answered. ’14,’15, ’16, ’17, ’18 and 2019 all belonged to Mercedes with Hamilton winning the title in every year except 2016. This took his total up to 6 driver’s titles and it devastated Ferrari. Before the start of the 2020 season, Lewis Hamilton has a golden opportunity to tie Michael Schumacher for the most amount of driver’s titles ever collected by the same driver.

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel really did the unthinkable when he lifted the title four years in a row with Red Bull. After all, as team principal Christian Horner frequently reminds us, Red Bull is an energy drink manufacturer, they should not really have any business lifting any kind of racing championships, but that is exactly what they did with the young Vettel at the helm.

Four championships in a row made it seem as if Red Bull was the next big thing. Then Vettel left for Ferrari and neither Red Bull nor Vettel has lifted any kind of championship since. Was Vettel that good? Has Red Bull gotten bad? Has Vettel aged after the move to Ferrari, or are Mercedes just miles apart?

The answer to these questions is something none of us really possess, we can only speculate. Red Bull tried again when they presented a promising lineup of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, two young men both brought through internally, but so far, this (un)dynamic duo have caused more calamity than celebration. It all leads to Ricciardo being shipped off to Renault before the start of the 2019 season.

List of Past Formula 1 Winners

The history of F1 is storied and unparalleled in racing. It spans the world, it is popular pretty much everywhere, and there are only 20 seats. The crème-de-la-crème of racing can only be found in F1 and F1 history is full of characters, races, winners and losers beyond what can be considered normal. This is where legends are truly made and this is made evident by these magnificent champions.

Year

Driver

Team

2019

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2018

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2017

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2016

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

2015

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2014

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

2013

Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull

2012

Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull

2011

Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull

2010

Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull

2009

Jenson Button

Brawn

2008

Lewis Hamilton

McLaren

2007

Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari

2006

Fernando Alonso

Renault

2005

Fernando Alonso

Renault

2004

Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2003

Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2002

Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2001

Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

2000

Michael Schumacher

Ferrari

1999

Mika Hakkinen

McLaren

1998

Mika Hakkinen

McLaren

1997

Jacques Villeneuve

McLaren

1996

Damon Hill

Williams

1995

Michael Schumacher

Benetton

1994

Michael Schumacher

Williams

1993

Alain Prost

Williams

1992

Nigel Mansell

Williams

1991

Ayrton Senna

McLaren

1990

Ayrton Senna

McLaren

Most Constructor Championships

Constructor

Titles

Ferrari

16

Williams

9

McLaren

8

Lotus

7

Mercedes

6

Red Bull

4

Cooper

2

Brabham

2

Renault

2

Vanwall

1

BRM

1

Matra

1

Tyrrell

1

Benetton

1

Brawn

1

Most race wins by Constructors

Constructor

Amount of Race Wins

Active Period

Ferrari

216

1950 –

McLaren

173

1966 –

Williams

113

1975 –

Lotus

79

1958 – 1994

Brabham

35

1962 – 1992

Renault

35

1977 – 1985, 2002 –

Benetton

27

1986 – 2001

Tyrrell

23

1970 – 1998

Red Bull

21

2005 –

BRM

17

1951, 1956 – 1977

Key stats of F1

Having existed since 1950, there are now a whole lot of stats for Formula 1 racing. Here are some of the most important, and some of the strangest, stats in the world of F1:

Most Driver’s titles: Michael Schumacher (7)

Youngest ever Grand Prix winner: Max Verstappen (age 18)

Oldest ever Grand Prix winner: Luigi Fagioli (age 53)

Most ever points: Lewis Hamilton (3 431)

Strangest one-race performance of all time: Hans Heyer, Germany Grand Prix 1977. The German managed to not qualify, race anyway, be forced to retire from the race, then get disqualified once the race was over. That’s a DNQ (Did Not Qualify), DNF (Did Not Finish) and DSQ (Disqualified), all in one race.

Formula 1 FAQs

✋ When does the Formula 1 season start?

The F1 season starts in mid-March and runs until late November every year.

🙋 What is the first race of the year?

The F1 calendar changes from year-to-year, but Melbourne is more-or-less always the first race of the season.

🏆 Do the teams win titles in Formula 1?

The driver title might be the most well-known title within F1, but teams also fight for the title of the best constructor. The constructors title is given to the team with the most points at the end of the season.

🎲 Can I bet on F1 at any bookmaker?

The vast majority of European and American bookmakers will offer odds on F1 races. Check with your chosen bookmaker for specific markets and general information.

ThePuntersPage Final Say

Nothing is more exciting than motorsport at its best, and motorsport doesn’t get better than Formula 1. Some of the biggest names in the world of sports has competed and won in Formula 1, and some of the biggest events, like Monaco and Monza, races the pulse of every fan every single season.

And pulses surely are high before the start of the 2020 season. The almighty Lewis Hamilton is out to tie Michael Schumacher for the best career record in history, but arch-rival Vettel, as well as up-and-coming future greats like Max Verstappen, Charles LeClerc and Lando Norris, will do all they can to make sure Lewis gets stuck at 6.